7 Seeds/Mantodea

A long winding hissing sound filled his ears as the pod's magnetic locks released. With a satisfying click and the humming of a short mechanical arm, the lid shifted forward. The cool air from the cryogenic machine was then swiftly replaced by a lukewarm tropical breeze from the outside world, causing his eyes to shoot open and his entire body to lurch forward.

His nose, his senses, all being assaulted all at once by new sensations! As his six-foot-tall form collided with the cool moss-covered ground, his hands kept his face from hitting the floor, suspending it a few inches before puking a white film-like fluid.

Feeling his throat, he began to croak in pain, "Aaah... Tastes like sweetened condensed milk..."

Senses were blurry, he was seeing triples if not quadruples. He could feel the once sterile blue tile floors beneath the moss tremble beneath him as something was trying to get into the facility.

Shaking his head as if it would help him regain control of his faculties, he rested his knees on the ground before trying to stand on them. Along the wall of the room, he could see scorched walls and rectangular containers with a singular spherical window. Each one held a decomposed corpse, some of the containers looked to have been gnawed on, and others completely ripped open.

He lurched forward again, his hands planting themselves on the moss-covered tiles, puking up another round of thick white hazy fluids that were now mixed with a pinch of yellow ochre.

"...Ew... What was that? Centuries-old cream of mushroom soup?" J4-2K wiped his lips, as his throat was burning far more than before, with his sleeve, as he was wearing a simple black tank top, blue denim jeans, and some generic secondhand sneakers.

Moving back onto his knees, he peered over his hand, his eyes traveling over his forearm before turning to look towards the direction of the sound. Something was moving, scrapping at metal.

"What the hell happened to this place..." His eyes darted over to a shattered terminal and frowned, there was no more watching anime or reading manga, that was for sure.

Exposed wires, sparks, and recycled coolant gases were spewing out of decayed wall panels. This place looked like it had been ransacked by mother nature itself, as the world above was violated by a meteor.

It seemed to have been out of working condition for quite some time now anyway. Moving back onto his feet, he reached back to feel a pair of camouflaged wings that twitched as he touched them while they hung from his upper back by his shoulder blades. "Well then... It seems like I'm about to become a wanderer..." His eyes narrowed on the gaping hole at the very end of the room, on the opposite side of himself.

To him, it appeared to be a tunnel leading upward at a rather slanted angle. A singular blast door which was three-quarters of the way closed seemed to have stopped whatever made that hole from reaching him.

The walls of this place were moldy and spotted with Fungi. With the few lights still operating he could see almost perfectly. His tongue traveled over his lips, only for him to wince at the taste.

His lips were too sweet, far too sweet.

Sniffing the air, he could smell there were other animals about. Pheromones were dead giveaways to what genetic base they came from. The closest to him seemed to be some sort of rodent and it... It was trying to get through the wall beside him. He could hear its claws wearing away at the metal insulation.

Without thinking he muttered, "Sounds like the third layer has been breached..."

Moving toward the almost closed partition, two scimitar-like blades with teeth sprouted from his forearms instinctively as an elastic membrane peeled aside. The bodily weapon reached a whole three feet, capable of cleaving and slicing away at their target. He continued to sniff the air, checking for pheromones the closer he got to the separation. When he finally made it a few seconds later, he slipped through the crack which was just large enough for him to walk through.

Looking over the various other pods, his vision was getting better, enhanced by his Orchid Mantis physiology he could see the other serial numbers. "I-series are completely wiped... J-series, one survivor, suppose that's me... I suppose the other sister facilities are offline. They didn't come here and..."

His eyes flickered towards an open doorway leading deeper into the facility where the containment breach occurred. He could smell creatures down there as if they were a nest or colony of some sort. There was no reason to go down there, not even to forage for food.

"Not going down there..." He rubbed his throat with his left hand, being careful not to scar or maim himself. Grabbing the medical kit hanging from the wall between two pods, he continued towards the open breach in the wall.

"I suppose it was a giant rat that came in here...?" His eyes narrowed on some fine orange fur that had embedded itself in some of the dirt. "Hamtaro perhaps? Hm. Seems pretty big though, is it trotting around?"

His head shifted to the side as his gaze rested on the wall back where he came from, whatever it was, the creature was still burrowing through sheets of metal alloy composite.

"That is one large Hamtaro," J4-2K spoke under his breath, his feet moving for him as he darted through the gaping hole. It was a straight and narrow path upward at a diagonal angle.

A grin formed over his lips as he buzzed his wings and leaped forward. With the push of his inhuman appendages, he boosted himself out of the hole within several seconds. Finding himself airborne for a short instance before landing with a roll to his feet, he was in the center of a massive tropical island with more trees than he remembered there ever being before.

"Is this one of those, Honey I shrunk the kid, moments?" His observation of massive trees was quick to pull this quip from his lips.

His wings which had been apparent for a short while, suddenly vanished as they camouflaged against his black tank top. From what he remembered from the archives, this place used to be an active military base for the Japanese Self Defense force and American Army. There was no sign of such a thing here, no artificial constructs of any kind.

Letting his wings drone on one more time, he leaped towards the tree and clung to the rough bark with his hands upon impact. His interior special insectoid skeletal structure taking the brunt of the force behind the jump and dispersing it, causing no damage.

In order to climb, he did this action over and over again until he reached the top of the tree.

Within the next few minutes, he could already smell the rat emerging from its secondary hole, where it attempted to breach the facility. It was on his trail and moving along the forest floor.

Once he reached the top of the tree, his gaze rested on the mountain then out towards the sea. Darker than the pale sky above filling with darkened clouds, the ocean was a deep majestic blue.

What caught his eye however was a raft with only one side deflated, something that he really did not expect to see whatsoever. Fresh blood coated it, the tent that made up the center was torn open. It was clear someone had died, if not eaten alive, mere hours ago.

About to lick his lips again, he paused and shook his head, not wanting to taste the sweetness that previously coated them from his vomit. Launching himself into the air with the help of his wings, he came crashing down onto the sand, once again landing in a roll.

He could hear the scurrying of the giant rat behind him within the trees at his back. The wild creature must've heard his landing, or picked up his scent, so it was coming for him.

Jumping to his feet, he checked his extremities before glancing over his shoulder. He had quite literally jumped like a flee, making the great distance between his previous location and where he had landed.

A large rat's head popped out from the tree line, its pink hands sinking into the sand as it entered on to the beach. It sniffed at the air, its nose and whiskers twitching.

His heart rate increased exponentially seeing the predatory creature. He had two choices, attack it before it could react and possibly fail to kill it, or try escaping from the island and lessen the risks.

If a rat had gotten to this size, then he could only wonder how much larger the fish had become. He shallowly swallowed the saliva that was building up in his mouth since his episode of ejecta.

J4-2K put his attention on the float ahead of him, he knew how to swim, but considering how large animals and trees have gotten, that didn't seem like a good idea.

The young man retracted the blades on his arms back beneath the membrane that hid them.

Approaching the temporary maritime float which was still partially in the water, he went ahead and nudged it with his foot. Seeing as it was easily moving it into the water for a brief instance of contact, he chuckled quietly to himself.

From the corner of his eye, he could see clothes torn to pieces not too far away from his position. Remnants of black shorts, half a pair of panties and a green hoodie, but nothing else.

It wasn't standard attire, so could it have been girl from another group?

"How many died here?" J4-2K sniffed the air again, but there had been too many animals that had approached this raft. There was no clear read on the pheromones, but the rat had been here.

"It smells like someone had an orgy in the zoo... Disgusting," huffing at this he knelt forward and placed his hands on the raft ahead of him. The rat had spotted him, smelling him as he flexed his wings.

Once his feet were settled in the soft wet sand, he put all of his weight forward and sprung his feet off the ground in a dedicated direction toward the sea. His attempt was successful, as the amount of force allowed the raft to glide along the top of the water before it began to drifting along into a current.

His eyes moved to a singular paddle and a sigh escaped his lips. Peering over to the beach, he narrowed his gaze upon the large rodent which was waddling its way into the sea itself. "Is that thing trying to follow me? You... You can't be serious..." He uttered.

The rat was swimming pretty well, despite its sharp fur coat becoming weighted down rather quickly as small waves washed over it. "Reee~! Reeeee~!" It was calling out after him, baring its yellow-stained buck teeth.

Every time the water pushed it back, the rodent would pick up its pace and make up for lost distance. Splashing its pink hands through the water, it held a determined glint in its eyes.

"You're definitely not..." J4-2K's voice faded out as a massive orange fish with a mouth full of sharp teeth, came jumping out of the water and tackled the rodent face first.

His eyes widened as the struggle went on, the Rodent was squealing and squeaking. It clawed at the scaled body helplessly, being dragged under the water surface. Blood began to spread from beneath the surface.

"I suppose there is always a bigger fish... At least I'm not being followed by a giant gerbil, but I doubt I can sleep on this raft after learning what's roaming beneath me," he flexed his eyelids, squinting and glaring at the cloudy red water.

The calm waves of the sea that surrounded him on all horizons except for the island he came from, suddenly made him feel insecure and far from safe. Even then, he knew that island likely had many more rats just like that one. Not wanting to encounter more of them was most likely a normal response, he thought, right?

"This is going to be a long day..." The lone teenage male murmured under his breath as he could smell a storm brewing, he sighed. He opened the aged medkit, peering at the contents. Most of it was relatively well preserved.

After closing the kit, he tucked it into the lining of the raft and picked up the paddle. Having no real idea where he was going, J4-2K decided to head in the general direction of what once was the Nagasaki Prefecture.

Minutes turned into hours, and as the hours went on, the sky got darker and the sea got meaner. Waves started to pick up and he could feel the wind spitting on him with fresh water.

It was going to rain soon and he could smell taste and feel it all at once. A crackling of thunder off in the distance caused him to tense immediately at the new sound. His eyes moved to the sky, his tongue roving over his lips, the sweet taste has since faded and no longer bothered him.

Soon enough the raft was tossing and turning, he was having little to no control over the thing. It was going to be near impossible to steer and he feared if the waves got any higher he'd surely perish.

As the evening sky was taking over the fierce storm the thunder and lightning had become even more evident. The wind picked up and he knew if he tried to jump he'd be pulled along like a kite. It'd be suicide to even try to do that, not wanting to think of the whiplash his eyes looked for land in every which direction.

For the first time since he had been at sea, he saw no land.

Minutes have gone by and still nothing as he clung for dear life. He was sure he would have to abandon the medical supplies he had stashed on the half-a-raft. Not that they were all that much, and he was sure the ointments were probably expired.

It'd be rather scary if they were still useful despite their packaging not decaying at all.

That was when he saw it, in the corner of his eye was a singular red light blinking amongst the waves. "What is that... Didn't civilization die off with the rest of the world? Guess I'm no legend... Huh..."

Sporadically and at a swift pace, he dunked and pushed the paddle through the water. He was trying to put his vessel on route for the possible haven from the storm. While he got closer now and then, the waves and storm alone undid his progress over and over again.

In frustration, he growled before tossing the paddle away and jumping into the ocean. Swimming was something he could do, he learned how to do that, but the ocean was a foreign environment.

The immediate moment he was fully submerged in the water for a split second, he knew something was off. The water, it wasn't salty, it didn't burn his skin or make him itchy. He was swimming in fresh water, the very idea of this immediately felt off to him. Was this not the ocean?

"What in the world...?" J4-2K muttered under his breath as he surfaced, treading water as he approached the platform. It seemed unstable, sinking even. Pulling himself up, he was hardly able to use his grip on the platform due to how wet it was. Even then, he prevailed and clung to the wall beside the open door. "There has to be people here..." His eyes moved to the float with a tent protruding from the center of it, then to the door.

Suddenly a tall brunette emerged, he couldn't pick up her scent due to the rain and his eyes opened a bit more than usual seeing her. As if frozen in place, he didn't move as she whirled around on her heel though almost slipping in the process. With her bust swaying from her abrupt maneuver as she drew her pistol, holding it in his face, she raised a brow as lightning lit up the sky.

"Who are you!?" Her eyes narrowed on the man who was soaked to the bone and hardly prepared for anything. Lowering her weapon though before he answered, she could see the damaged raft off in the distance. "Are you from another team? You don't look like you're from Team-B," her eyes were heavily scrutinizing his face that held western features.

J4-2K stared at her as she was speaking, he noted her tightly braided hair, and strong voice even over the sound of the storm with its howling winds, around them.

"Ah... I am J4-2K," his eyes wandered behind her watching as two male forms as they were moving into the raft. "Many of the others chose their names... I only have a serial code."

"Others...? This platform is sinking! There is no shelter inside, hurry onto the raft!" The woman warned and ordered him to do as she told, not having noticed his wet wings glistening on his back and hardly camouflaged.

She was first to move onto the yellow float as the construct he clung to began to shift more and more. It didn't feel at all safe for him to remain here either!

"By the Nine Divines..." The newly introduced J4-2K uttered before he watched a timid looking petite female step outside, her hands near her chest. "Oh?"

Dressed in a white and blue long-sleeved shirt, a brown jacket and a pair of jeans with some sneakers. She was cute, but he could hardly tell how old she was due to her height and overall appearance.

That had always been a problem for Jack, being unable to distinguish age even when he was being experimented on back before the breach. How he had subdermal implants added to his body, injections of strange chemicals that transformed him.

If those experiments had been completed, perhaps he could've actually flown. Now, he was sure he could only jump far distances. A frown formed over his lips. There was no one behind her.

Why were there only four people here? Humanity would definitely need far more than just a hundred survivors in order to repopulate. Probably about a hundred thousand, if they wanted to avoid inbreeding.

His eyes narrowed forward though as his thoughts left him, the danger around him stealing them away.

"Why..." Muttered the girl as she stared out into what could only be assumed to be the ocean. The only thing they may not have realized though was that it wasn't salty at all. The world had changed.

"You two!" The woman from earlier called out to them, shocking the girl into reality. "Hurry, this way, get on board!"

"Eh?" The smallest of the bunch turned to look towards the woman, her hands dropping to her sides. Just as she was about to step forward though, the entire platform shifted. Losing her footing thanks to the rough movement from the sinking vessel, she fell towards the water.

"Shit!" J4-2K snapped as he released his hold onto the platform and kicked off it to go in after her, wrapping his arms around the girl as she plummeted headfirst into the water.

Her eyes were squeezed shut and her arms flailed slightly before subconsciously wrapping around him for support. Fear, even in the water, leaked off of her chemically. As they kicked their feet together, J4-2K was able to maneuver them towards the surface.

Together they had gone under for only a few seconds. The sea was cruel, it was trying to pull them down, to dunk them until they drowned. Several times they were to surface, only to be pulled back down.

Even then, J4-2K didn't give up and nor did she even as she began to sink with him.

For the last time with his help, they both breached the water's surface. Quickly both of them came gasping for air, struggling against the waves and the undercurrent until he helped her to the raft.

"Are you okay!? Here, let me help you..." J4-2K asked as he placed a hand on the outer rim of the raft. She nodded, clinging and shivering from the cold as while using the other to lift her.

"Here, grab on!" The older woman shouted, grabbing her by the coat and pulling her aboard.

One of the males, with black hair, reached out and grabbed Jack's arm, pulling him up and over the side of the raft. Though midway, he paused seeing the wings on the man's back, only to continue pulling him on.

J4-2K shifted onto his back, looking over the girl who had fallen into the water, who was coughing up water that had gotten in her lungs.

"Oh! Oh! Look at you two!" The long orange-haired male chuckled with his hands raised slightly, "Do you both risk yourselves to help other people?"

"It's human nature to help others," the short dark-haired male retorted.

"I wouldn't do it," The ginger snickered as his gaze washed over Jack.

As J4-2K observed their body types, he was quick to see that the one who had helped him was more athletic. The orange-haired male seemed slender but had a mouth on him. His sarcastic attitude seemed to earn him a chuckle, "Smells like cowardice."

But that was when his gaze drifted back to the girl who he had saved.

"Hurry! We have to move away before that sinking ship takes us with it!" The woman started shouting again as the two were interacting. J4-2K had no choice but to agree with this.

As they guided the raft away from the ship, the woman opened the tent for them to get inside.

First, the two males slipped in, followed by the younger girl shuffling in behind them on all fours. That was when she paused though before moving towards a bag. "That's my bag... Why is it here?"

J4-2K crawled towards the tent and paused, making eye contact with the woman who had drawn the weapon on him earlier. She simply nodded, having him enter. "Thank you..." Were the only words that left his lips before gathering with the others around the center pole.

That older woman remained outside, watching the ship while holding the door to the tent open.

The young girl from before peered over to him, observing him subtly.

J4-2K had medium-length wavy black hair, hazel green eyes, and budding facial hair. His facial features were sharp, western, unlikely to be Japanese in origin. He was about six feet tall with a muscular form. Her thoughts concluded he had to be a year older than her if not the same age.

His eyes flickered over the girl, matching her gaze.

"Eh?" Briefly averting her gaze, she glanced back at him once more, "Are... You okay?" She asked concerned for the person who had saved her. Just like the other guy, she just noticed the wings. "Wha..."

"I'm just chipper," he answered with an indistinct smile across his lips as they both remained sitting on their legs. His eyes shifted over all of them before moving to the older woman at the door.

"Umu..." Slowly nodding to his response, the girl looked to the older woman, "Anou... Are there others?" It was clear she was shaken, but she wanted to know if there were more people.

J4-2K too was rather curious about this answer, the two other boys were paying attention too.

"No, it was just the four of us... And now this guy..." The woman's gaze rested on Jack's wings, the only real visible proof that he was a genetic experiment other than his more defined bodily structure. "Wherever he came from. I didn't see anyone else."

"Bro, what's with the wings? Did your mother like to play with bugs?" Laughed the ginger, as if picking at his wings, though J4-2K did very little in response to the man's words.

"My name is J4-2K, a survivor like you four, I just... Came from Okinawa. It's a lot... Bigger from what I remember." His head slowly lulled to the side as he stared at their confused gazes.

"Survivor?" The three teens blinked at him, their tones depicting great surprise.

Tilting her head to the side, she looked over him. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the name he had given. "M-my name is Iwashimizu Natsu... Don't you have a normal name? I... I don't like calling someone by a code name..."

"... Just a serial number," Jack replied with a sigh.

"J4-2K..." Tasting the name on her lips in a low murmur, her eyes flashed over to the pole in the center of the canopy. She tried to not let her thoughts get to her as she curled her fingers into her wet pants.

It was really comfortable sitting here like this.

"Ano... How about Jakku?" Natsu didn't really know what other names would fit the available character choices in his serial number.

"Oh no! I've been named after some useless sand planet from that blasted Disney film!" The boy sighed as he was pretending to cringe, shifting where he was seated.

"Gomenasai!" She squeezed her eyes shut as she squeaked, trying to keep in a hushed tone with him. "If-if you don't like it... I could... Come up with a different name..If you prefer..!"

Droning his wings along his back, letting them dry a bit, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. As she was shocked by the sudden movement, he pushed a hair behind the back of her ear. "Jakku is fine," he whispered as she looked as if she was going into a panic, "Since it came from a cute girl such as you."

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeh!?" She sounded in disbelief, obviously not used to being complimented, or being held so close to someone who wasn't family before. It was almost as if she shrank into his arm, like a ball for him to hold in his palm of his hand.

During their conversation, the ginger-haired male was covering his mouth trying not to vomit from seasickness, all while suppressing laughter from the scene unfolding.

The other boy was sweatdropping while watching the two of them, considering the stranger who saved the girl was now hitting on her.

In contrast to their reactions, the older woman didn't have much of a real reaction other than slipping inside and zipping up the tent. She then turned around and looked to the person covering his mouth, "If you're going to puke, do it outside."

Looking up at the woman sickly with a darkened face, "Don't worry, I got an empty stomach..." Turning his head away in thought he continued to speak, "It's weird considering I ate so much barbeque last night."

"Last Night..." Natsu looked puzzled, if not disturbed as she thought back to the 'night' before. A few seconds later she gave an unnerved sigh.

Jakku simply frowned as he was catching on to what was going on here. The people here, probably aside from the older woman, had no idea why they were here or even how they got here. His eyes shifted to the named Natsu once more. It was rather evident since she wasn't necessarily questioning their situation. She seemed to be more of a guide...

Sometime after the storm was over as everyone was dried off and calmed down a bit. The young man who helped Jakku onto the raft went to speak up but was cut off, as he sat there with one hand over his knee.

"So what is everyone's names?" Jakku asked without much hesitation as he had since let go of the girl. He didn't want to cling to her since it might send the wrong signals to her or the others. Though to tell the truth he was feeling a bit cold.

"I'm Aota Arashi," the male with dark hair said, raising a hand in a wave, "Just call me Arashi."

"My name is Asai Semimaru, address me as Semimaru!" The ginger spoke cooly with a grin across his lips as he looked over the two. It was as if he had just found prey for some sort of scheme of his, though there was an obvious tinge of jealousy towards Jakku in his solid gaze.

Opening the door of the raft, the older woman introduced herself, "Botan, Saotome Botan."

"It seems everything has calmed down out here..." As she finished unzipping the door and lowering it to exit, she narrowed her eyes forwards.

"Can anyone explain what happened?" Arashi's demeanor had become serious, his wrist resting over his propped up knee. His eyes traveled over Jakku and Natsu, thinking the boy may know something, before resting his eyes on the older woman as well. "I don't even remember leaving my house, much less boarding a ship... I was asleep in my room, how did I get here? Someone tell me! What happened?!"

Jakku could sense his panic through the pheromones he was releasing. All of them were, except for Botan, but there was a taste of genuine fear that seeped from her.

Semimaru kept his gaze on Arashi, even after he finished speaking.

Natsu was staring at her feet as she was seated with her legs to her chest. "I'm in the same situation..."

When it came to Botan, it looked as if she was spaced out entirely, but her response still came in the form of a monotonous voice. "Same here, When I woke up, I was on that ship."

That was the moment Jakku simply closed his eyes partially in mild annoyance, seeing through her facade. She was trying to make herself relative while hiding the truth. It wasn't even a white lie, it was a placeholder for when she would inevitably be forced to speak it. That and as he took in a deep inhale, the scent from the capsule worn around her neck reached his nose, a deadly cyanide compound.

Arashi noted the gaze Jakku was giving the woman, especially in reaction to her words. Although he was an outsider, and physically strange, he didn't seem at all like a bad guy.

Not taking this as an excuse, Semimaru spoke up, "You're pretty quick on your feet, for someone who just woke up." The accusation was not without merit, he wasn't wrong.

Still, depressive since the excitement had died down, Natsu kept her eyes on the pole, averting her eyes from pretty much everyone. Jakku recognized this mostly as her staying in her own mind, rather than interacting with the world around her. It was normal for someone who was a shut-in.

"Oh? What's your story?" She asked defensively, though not too rough, her volume barely rising.

"All I remember is eating a ton of barbeque and then going to sleep. That is all." Semimaru was scowling at the woman, not lying to her question whatsoever.

"It's as if we all have amnesia?" Arashi didn't seem to be buying it either, but at the same time, he knew at least one of these people had the answer they were looking for. "Jakku... You said you came from Okinawa, do you know anything?"

"You've all be asleep for longer than I, the world was hit by a Meteor, while I was awake..." Jakku spoke gently when he was giving them the news, not acting frantic. Though at the same time, he was expecting them all to do the same. "People died, the world ended, covered in ash and freezing temperatures like an accelerated ice age. Most of the world has shifted," his jaw rolled as he continued to speak after taking a short breather. "Along with its landmass... You can actually drink the ocean water, it's not salty. I am a second-generation test subject, from the HE2 Project, a Human Evolution Project."

"Human... Evolution Project?" Botan was curious about this, it was clear to be seen as she was staring at him from across the canopy.

"Think of it like the anime... Terraformar, except some changes, are just much more evident..."

Laughing, Semimaru pointed at him, "Hah! I know that one! It's where humanity tried to... Colonize mars... What insect are you?" His voice became serious around the last few words.

"Hymenopus Coronatus," Jakku spoke seemingly with pride as he formed a grin over his lips and shifted his arms across his chest.

"Huh? Hymen-o-pus? Can you repeat that?" Semimaru snickered.

From the corner of his eye, Jakku could see Natsu's face lighting up in a faint blush, her eyes widened at the jab. "Orchid Mantis," Jakku's brows creased as he was asked to repeat it, even though it seemed Semimaru processed it as a joke. "I think I'm going to refer to you as Samus for now on."

"Samus?! Do I look like a woman or a space warrior!?" Semimaru placed his hands on his head, it is obviously something that triggered him off the bat.

"You have the same color hair, and probably the same length too," Jakku returned his once smug look with one of his own, as he was now unhappy about the stranger's quip.

"I do not have the same color here! She has blonde hair!"

"Then... Orange-Kun?" Jakku suggested sincerely.

Aggravated as palmed his face, the ginger sighed, "Now you're talking Code Geass!?"

"I was a bit of a shut-in before the end of the world, but I learned a lot from the things I've watched." Jakku remained smug as he spoke, his eyes centered on the man.

Natsu smiled mildly hearing Jakku, as he too declared himself a shut-in, even though he was some sort of human experiment. She could only imagine the pain he had gone through, the things that were done to him. Yet here he was, making light of things such as Semimaru's name.

"You two stop messing around! We have to get this raft moving before it hits the cliff!" Botan who had slipped out while they were talking, shouted for their attention. Quickly the four of them squeezed out the single door and to the sides of the blown-up float, they've been taking shelter on.

All four of them were quick to grab the paddles that were fixed along the sides of their ride and began to maneuver the entire vessel to safety with relative ease.

"This definitely reminds me of Fallout Four though, being thawed out, thrown into the post-apocalyptic world..." Jakku stared forward at the bank they were floating towards. It was evident that they were going to be landing soon. "Fending for ourselves."

"You know too many references man..."

"It's all I had to pass the time. they had about a thousand choices of anime to choose from," Jakku snickered, "And even more games in the after-experiment lounge."

"Eh..." Hearing their own peer sounding cheerful about it a lounge meant for leisure time after being painfully experimented on, made the ginger a little uneasy.

Natsu just watched him as she paddled the boat along, wondering how he was able to cope like he was. She had been bullied, but she had never been painfully experimented on, nor did she lack a name for herself. It was as if he had been dehumanized, even though he was meant for greatness.

Before long the raft washed up onto the shore and each one of them stepped out, grabbed onto the rope and started pulling it further onto sure. While they were now on the beach, they were quick to notice the rest of the island was elevated.

The only way to reach the trees, wildlife, and possible food sources was to climb.